Full Text of SB3077 103rd General Assembly
SB3077sam001 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY | Sen. David Koehler Filed: 3/4/2024 | | 10300SB3077sam001 | | LRB103 36919 BDA 70021 a |
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| 1 | | AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 3077
| 2 | | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 3077 by replacing | 3 | | everything after the enacting clause with the following: | 4 | | "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Local | 5 | | Food Infrastructure Grant Act. | 6 | | Section 5. Definitions. In this Act: | 7 | | "Department" means the Department of Agriculture. | 8 | | "Director" means the Director of Agriculture. | 9 | | "Fund" means the Local Food Infrastructure Grant Fund. | 10 | | "Grant administrator" means the Department or a nonprofit | 11 | | organization that is exempt from taxation under Section | 12 | | 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, that represents | 13 | | farmers, and that has entered into a subcontract with the | 14 | | Department under Section 15 to administer the grant. | 15 | | "Grantee" means the person or entity to whom a grant is | 16 | | made from the Fund. |
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| 1 | | "Lender" means a federal or State chartered bank, a | 2 | | federal land bank, a production credit association, a bank for | 3 | | cooperatives, a federal or State chartered savings and loan | 4 | | association, a federal or State chartered building and loan | 5 | | association, a small business investment company, or any other | 6 | | institution qualified within this State to originate and | 7 | | service loans, including, but not limited to, an insurance | 8 | | company, a credit union, and a mortgage loan company. | 9 | | "Lender" includes a wholly owned subsidiary of a | 10 | | manufacturer, seller, or distributor of goods or services that | 11 | | makes loans to businesses or individuals, commonly known as a | 12 | | captive finance company. | 13 | | "Liability" includes, but is not limited to, accounts | 14 | | payable; notes or other indebtedness owed to any source; | 15 | | taxes; rent; amounts owed on real estate contracts or real | 16 | | estate mortgages; judgments; accrued interest payable; and any | 17 | | other liability. | 18 | | "State" means the State of Illinois. | 19 | | "Underserved farmer" means a farmer or rancher who meets | 20 | | the United States Department of Agriculture criteria to be | 21 | | designated as a beginning farmer, socially disadvantaged | 22 | | farmer, veteran farmer, or limited resource farmer. | 23 | | "Underserved community" means a community that has limited | 24 | | or no access to resources or that is otherwise disenfranchised | 25 | | as determined by the Department. These communities may include | 26 | | people who are socioeconomically disadvantaged; people with |
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| 1 | | limited English proficiency; geographically isolated or | 2 | | educationally disenfranchised people; people of color as well | 3 | | as ethnic and national origin minorities; women and children; | 4 | | individuals with disabilities and others with access and | 5 | | functional needs; and seniors. | 6 | | "Value-added agricultural product" means any farm or | 7 | | agricultural product or by-product that has its value enhanced | 8 | | through processing in Illinois, packaging in Illinois, or any | 9 | | other activity in Illinois. | 10 | | Section 10. Findings. | 11 | | (a) The General Assembly finds that the following | 12 | | conditions exist in this State: | 13 | | (1) Small fruit, vegetable, and livestock farmers are | 14 | | vital to the health and wealth of Illinois communities, | 15 | | yet Illinois does not currently have infrastructure in | 16 | | place to support local food farmers or to feed Illinois | 17 | | communities. | 18 | | (2) An estimated 95% of the food consumed in Illinois | 19 | | is purchased from outside of our borders, resulting in the | 20 | | export of billions of food dollars outside our State | 21 | | rather than the enhancement of our local food economies. | 22 | | (3) A shift of just 10% toward local food purchasing | 23 | | by Illinois individuals, families, schools, institutions, | 24 | | and State agencies could generate billions in economic | 25 | | growth for our State. |
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| 1 | | (4) For Illinois families, businesses, schools, and | 2 | | institutions to shift their purchasing practices, Illinois | 3 | | must invest in supporting critical local food | 4 | | infrastructure needed to bolster processing, aggregation, | 5 | | and distribution of local food. | 6 | | (b) The General Assembly determines and declares that | 7 | | there exist conditions in the State that require the | 8 | | Department to issue grants on behalf of the State for the | 9 | | development of local food processing, aggregation, and | 10 | | distribution. | 11 | | Section 15. Local Food Infrastructure Grant Program. | 12 | | Funding appropriated for the Local Food Infrastructure Grant | 13 | | Program shall be allocated to the Department. The Department | 14 | | may enter into a subcontract agreement with a nonprofit | 15 | | organization that is exempt from taxation under Section | 16 | | 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and that represents | 17 | | farmers in order to administer the grant program established | 18 | | under this Act, so long as the administration of the grant | 19 | | program by the grant administrator adheres to the requirements | 20 | | of this Act, including the following requirements: | 21 | | (1) Eligible grant applicants shall include any one or | 22 | | more of the following entities that store, process, | 23 | | package, aggregate, or distribute value-added agricultural | 24 | | products or plan to do so: | 25 | | (A) Illinois farms with less than 50 employees; |
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| 1 | | (B) Illinois cooperatives with less than 50 | 2 | | employees; | 3 | | (C) Illinois processing facilities with less than | 4 | | 50 employees; | 5 | | (D) Illinois food businesses with less than 50 | 6 | | employees; | 7 | | (E) Illinois food hubs with less than 50 | 8 | | employees; | 9 | | (F) Illinois nonprofit organizations; and | 10 | | (G) units of local government in Illinois. | 11 | | Grant proposals may be submitted to the grant | 12 | | administrator by individuals, groups, partnerships, or | 13 | | collaborations. A recipient of grant funding under this | 14 | | Act whose project is funded in a grant cycle is not | 15 | | eligible to apply for grant funding under this Act for | 16 | | that project in the next funding cycle nor is any other | 17 | | person eligible to apply for grant funding for that | 18 | | project in the next funding cycle. However, any person may | 19 | | apply for grant funding under this Act for such project in | 20 | | any subsequent funding cycles. | 21 | | (2) Grant awards shall be available for collaborative | 22 | | and individual projects at the following award amounts: | 23 | | (A) for a collaborative project, a grant of $1,000 | 24 | | to $250,000 may be awarded; and | 25 | | (B) for an individual project, a grant of $1,000 | 26 | | to $75,000 may be awarded. |
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| 1 | | (3) All funded projects must show comparable | 2 | | investments by the recipient in the development and | 3 | | progression of the project being funded or must show | 4 | | evidence of being a high need project. The recipient's | 5 | | comparable investments may be provided in cash, | 6 | | cash-equivalent investments, bonds, irrevocable letters of | 7 | | credit, time and labor, or any combination of those | 8 | | matching fund sources. Acceptable providers of matching | 9 | | funds include, but are not limited to, commercial, | 10 | | municipal, and private lenders; leasing companies; and | 11 | | grantors of funds. A project may be designated as a high | 12 | | need project if at least one of the following conditions | 13 | | is met: | 14 | | (A) the project can demonstrate that it is filling | 15 | | a gap in critical infrastructure for its region or | 16 | | community that is unlikely to be resolved without the | 17 | | grant investment; or | 18 | | (B) the project can demonstrate that the grant | 19 | | investment will primarily serve underserved farmers or | 20 | | underserved communities. | 21 | | (4) All grant funding provided under this Act must be | 22 | | used for purchasing, leasing to own, renting, building, or | 23 | | installing infrastructure related to the processing, | 24 | | storage, aggregation, or distribution of value-added | 25 | | agricultural products. Allowable expenses include, but are | 26 | | not limited to: |
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| 1 | | (A) equipment used in the production of | 2 | | value-added agricultural products; | 3 | | (B) milling or pressing equipment; | 4 | | (C) creamery or milk product processing and | 5 | | packaging equipment; | 6 | | (D) food hub development or expansion; | 7 | | (E) cooler walls and refrigeration units; | 8 | | (F) grading, packing, labeling, packaging, or | 9 | | sorting equipment; | 10 | | (G) refrigerated trucks; | 11 | | (H) custom exempt mobile slaughter units and | 12 | | livestock processing equipment; | 13 | | (I) agroforestry processing equipment; and | 14 | | (J) local fish and shrimp processing. | 15 | | Grant funding provided under this Act may not be used | 16 | | for labor, marketing, or promotion or for the costs of | 17 | | production agriculture, such as costs for the purchase of | 18 | | hoop houses, irrigation, or other infrastructure related | 19 | | to starting or increasing agricultural production. | 20 | | Section 17. Local Food Infrastructure Grant Fund. The | 21 | | Local Food Infrastructure Grant Fund is created as a special | 22 | | fund in the State treasury. Appropriations and moneys from any | 23 | | public or private source may be deposited into the Fund. The | 24 | | Fund shall be used for the purposes of this Act. Repayments of | 25 | | grants made under this Section shall be deposited into the |
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| 1 | | Fund. A maximum of 10% of all funds appropriated through the | 2 | | Fund may be used by the Department for the costs of | 3 | | administering the grant within the Department or the cost of | 4 | | subcontracting a grant administrator. | 5 | | Section 20. Program administration. | 6 | | (a) The grant administrator shall create an independent | 7 | | Local Food Infrastructure Steering Committee to guide the | 8 | | implementation and evaluation of the grant program created by | 9 | | this Act. The Steering Committee shall be composed of, at a | 10 | | minimum, the following members: at least 3 farmers, including | 11 | | one specialty crop farmer, one livestock farmer, and one | 12 | | farmer of color; one representative from the local food | 13 | | processing industry; one representative from a nonprofit | 14 | | organization serving farmers of color; one representative from | 15 | | a nonprofit organization serving farmers at large; and one | 16 | | representative from the Illinois Stewardship Alliance Local | 17 | | Food Farmer Caucus so long as the Caucus exists. | 18 | | (b) The Steering Committee's responsibilities shall | 19 | | include advising the Department and any other grant | 20 | | administrator on the following matters: | 21 | | (1) application requirements and terms of grant | 22 | | agreements; | 23 | | (2) grant criteria and preferences, including | 24 | | additional criteria and preferences to be adopted by the | 25 | | Department by rule; |
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| 1 | | (3) the meaning of the term "collaborative project" to | 2 | | be codified in Department rules; | 3 | | (4) grant review and selection; | 4 | | (5) project reporting requirements for funded | 5 | | projects; and | 6 | | (6) evaluation of program success and adjustment of | 7 | | criteria, requirements, preferences, program | 8 | | implementation, and other elements of the grant program as | 9 | | needed to ensure that the grant program meets its intended | 10 | | purpose and complies with this Act. | 11 | | (c) An applicant for grant funding under this Act must, at | 12 | | a minimum, be an Illinois resident, as defined by Department | 13 | | rule, and provide the names, addresses, and occupations of all | 14 | | project owners, the project address, relevant credit and | 15 | | financial information (including, but not limited to, assets | 16 | | and liabilities), and any other information deemed necessary | 17 | | by the grant administrator for review of the grant | 18 | | application. A grant award is subject to modification or | 19 | | alteration under the condition that the grant award is subject | 20 | | to any modifications that may be required by changes in State | 21 | | law or rules. The Department shall provide written notice to | 22 | | the recipient or, if subcontracting with another grant | 23 | | administrator, the other grant administrator of any amendment | 24 | | to the Act or rules adopted under the Act and the effective | 25 | | date of those amendments. | 26 | | (d) The grant administrator, in reviewing the |
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| 1 | | applications, must consider, but is not limited to | 2 | | considering, the following criteria: | 3 | | (1) whether the project has a reasonable assurance of | 4 | | increasing the availability and accessibility of Illinois | 5 | | agricultural products among Illinois communities; | 6 | | (2) whether there is an adequate and realistic budget | 7 | | projection; and | 8 | | (3) whether the application meets the eligibility | 9 | | requirements and the project costs are eligible under this | 10 | | Act. | 11 | | (e) Preference for grants shall be given to the following | 12 | | types of proposals: | 13 | | (1) proposals that have established favorable | 14 | | community support; | 15 | | (2) proposals that increase the availability of | 16 | | Illinois agricultural products to underserved communities | 17 | | in Illinois; | 18 | | (3) proposals that positively impact underserved | 19 | | farmers in Illinois; | 20 | | (4) proposals from established farmers and food | 21 | | businesses; | 22 | | (5) proposals that facilitate long-term economic | 23 | | development in the local food sector; | 24 | | (6) proposals that demonstrate comparable investments | 25 | | by the anticipated recipient; | 26 | | (7) proposals for high need projects; and |
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| 1 | | (8) proposals that are submitted by small and very | 2 | | small farms and food businesses. | 3 | | Section 25. Report. The grant administrator must annually | 4 | | file with the Governor and General Assembly and publish | 5 | | publicly each year a written report detailing the impact of | 6 | | the Local Food Infrastructure Grant Program for the previous | 7 | | calendar year. The report must include: | 8 | | (1) a complete list of all applications for grants | 9 | | under this Act that were received during the previous | 10 | | calendar year; | 11 | | (2) a complete list of all persons that were awarded a | 12 | | grant under this Act in the previous calendar year and the | 13 | | nature and amount of their awards; and | 14 | | (3) a statement of the economic impact of the grants | 15 | | made in the previous calendar year, which may include jobs | 16 | | created, local food sales increased, and communities | 17 | | served. | 18 | | Section 30. Liability. The Director, the grant | 19 | | administrator, the Local Food Infrastructure Steering | 20 | | Committee, Department employees, and any persons authorized to | 21 | | execute grants are not personally liable on account of the | 22 | | grants made under this Act and are not subject to any personal | 23 | | liability or accountability by reason of the issuance of the | 24 | | grants. |
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| 1 | | Section 35. Default or termination of grant agreement. | 2 | | (a) If the recipient of a grant violates any of the terms | 3 | | of the grant agreement, the grant administrator shall send a | 4 | | written notice to the recipient that the recipient is in | 5 | | default, and the recipient shall be given the opportunity to | 6 | | correct the violations. | 7 | | (b) If the violation is not corrected within 30 days after | 8 | | receipt of the notification, the grant administrator may take | 9 | | any one or more of the following actions: | 10 | | (1) The grant administrator may declare due and | 11 | | payable the amount of the grant, or any portion of it, and | 12 | | cease additional grant payments not yet made to the grant | 13 | | recipient. | 14 | | (2) The grant administrator may take any other action | 15 | | considered appropriate to protect the interest of the | 16 | | project. | 17 | | (c) The grant administrator may determine that a recipient | 18 | | has failed to faithfully perform the terms and conditions of | 19 | | the scope of work of the project when: | 20 | | (1) The grant administrator has notified the recipient | 21 | | in writing of the existence of circumstances such as | 22 | | misapplication of grant funds, failure to match grant | 23 | | funds, evidence of fraud and abuse, repeated failure to | 24 | | meet performance timelines or standards, or failure to | 25 | | resolve negotiated points of the agreement. |
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| 1 | | (2) The recipient fails to develop and implement a | 2 | | corrective action plan within 30 calendar days of the | 3 | | grant administrator's notice. | 4 | | (d) A grant may be terminated as provided in this | 5 | | subsection: | 6 | | (1) If there is no appropriation for the grant program | 7 | | for a specific year, all grants for that year will be | 8 | | terminated in full. If there is an insufficient | 9 | | appropriation for the grant program for a specific year, | 10 | | the grant administrator may make proportionate cuts to all | 11 | | recipients. | 12 | | (2) If the grant administrator determines that the | 13 | | recipient has failed to comply with the terms and | 14 | | conditions of the grant agreement, the grant administrator | 15 | | may terminate the grant in whole, or in part, at any time | 16 | | before the date of completion. | 17 | | (3) If the grant administrator determines that the | 18 | | continuation of the project would not produce beneficial | 19 | | results commensurate with the further expenditure of | 20 | | funds, the grant administrator may terminate the grant in | 21 | | whole, or in part, at any time before the date of | 22 | | completion. | 23 | | (4) If the recipient refuses or elects not to complete | 24 | | the grant agreement and terminate the grant, the recipient | 25 | | shall notify the grant administrator within 10 days after | 26 | | the date upon which performance ceases. Upon receipt of |
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| 1 | | the notification, the grant shall be declared terminated, | 2 | | and the grant administrator may declare due and payable | 3 | | the amount of the grant and may cease additional grant | 4 | | payments not yet made to the grantee. | 5 | | (e) Any money collected from the default or termination of | 6 | | a grant shall be placed into the Fund and expended for the | 7 | | purposes of this Act. | 8 | | Section 40. Construction. This Act is necessary for the | 9 | | welfare of this State and must be liberally construed to | 10 | | effectuate its purposes. The Department may adopt rules that | 11 | | are consistent with and necessary for the implementation and | 12 | | administration of this Act. | 13 | | Section 900. The State Finance Act is amended by adding | 14 | | Section 5.1015 as follows: | 15 | | (30 ILCS 105/5.1015 new) | 16 | | Sec. 5.1015. The Local Food Infrastructure Grant Fund. | 17 | | Section 999. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 18 | | becoming law.". |
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